Alexis Ohanian Biography & Net Worth

Alexis Ohanian Biography & Net Worth

American Internet entrepreneur and investor Alexis Ohanian is probably best known as the executive chairman of Reddit, a social news website he co-founded along with Aaron Swartz and Steve Huffman. His income flows in from the numerous investments he has made throughout his lifetime. He founded the social enterprise Breadpig, helped startup the travel search website Hipmunk, and also co-founded the venture capital firm Initialized Capital. Alexis was also a partner at Y Combinator. He was in 2012, dubbed the “Mayor of the Internet” by Andy Greenberg of Forbes magazine. His efforts across ventures has paid off and not only has he achieved fame and celebrity status, but he has also made a lot of money from his business involvements and investments.

Alexis Ohanian’s Biography & Career

Alexis Kerry Ohanian is the son of Armenian trader Chris Ohanian, and his wife Anke, a German. He was born on April 24, 1983 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. His grandparents entered the United States as refugees at the end of the Armenian Genocide.

He attended Howard High School in Ellicott City, Maryland, and was popular among the students.

His first venture was with his friend Steve Huffman. In 2005, they came up with the plan to sell the ‘MyMobileMenu’ idea to seed accelerating company ‘Y Combinator’. The company found the idea useful but suggested the two men to come up with another stuff that will be more novel for them to fund. This led the due to put in work together, and the idea of reddit.com was born. Reddit was to be a news and media aggregator where visitors would register, and be able to share content. The name ‘reddit’ was invented from the phrase “read it.” Y Combinator accepted Reddit as a start-up in 2005 and sold the website the following year to mass media company ‘Condé Nast’ for a sum of about 10 to 20 million dollars.

Alexis and Huffman continued to work closely with Reddit and also served on the board of directors.

Seeking to expand his reach, Alexis Ohanian decided to enter several new ventures simultaneously. He created the Breadpig Company in 2007. The venture is a producer of “geeky” products. After the sales of its products, the company donates its profits to charity. Though it was him who set up the company, he no longer gets involved in the day-to-day activities of the company as the business now runs on its own steam.

Alexis visited Armenia in 2010 and spent three months in the country, working in microfinance with the not-for-profit organization ‘Kiva’ to loan money to students and upcoming entrepreneurs in more than eighty countries through the internet. The project focused on helping people fight off poverty and become self-sufficient. Furthermore, he launched the company called Das Kapital Capital which aims to focus on consultancy, start-up investments, and advice.

His biggest invention to date is Reddit which is now one of the biggest social media platforms in the world today. Under his leadership and guidance, Reddit became an independent company in the year 2015. He ran the website till February 2018 when he shifted his focus to investing.

Alexis played a very important role  in the launch of Initialized Capital fund with Garry Tan. The firm made seed investments in several start-ups, including the likes of Cruise, Opendoor, Instacart, and Zenefits.

In addition to launching several business enterprises and investing in companies, Alexis Ohanian has also successfully published several works. His first project became available on October 1 2013. The book, titled ‘Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed’, ranked 4th position on best sellers list for Hardcover Business by The Wall Street Journal. Ohanian embarked on a five-month tour to promote the book, visiting over 75 universities in that regard.

Awards & Achievements

One thing about this businessman is that he is usually dedicated to his work and never leaves any stones unturned to achieve his goals. Throughout the professional phase of his life, this man has performed so well to the extent that he is now a very popular name in the United States as well as in many other countries in the world. His efforts and accomplishments have brought him fame, as well as many honors and accolades. Due to being considered as a prominent figure in the tech industry, Alexis was included in forbes ’30 Under 30’ list twice, in 2011 and 2012. Along with Erik Martin, he was featured as “champions of innovation” in a 2013 issue of Wired. In the year 2015, he was included Crain list of “40 Under 40” for business.

Ohanian was named one of the “Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company in 2016. On May 21, 2020, he delivered an inauguration address for the Class of 2020 at The Johns Hopkins University. Other notable speakers during the ceremony included senior class president Pavan Patel; Anthony Fauci, member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Michael R. Bloomberg, a philanthropist and former Mayor of New York City.

Personal Life & Family

Mr. Ohanian and famous tennis player Serena Williams has been married since November 16, 2017. The couple are the proud parents of one child, a daughter named Alexis Olympia Ohanian.

Ohanian has revealed that watching the tennis star compete for titles influenced him positively, and also changed how he looks at success and handles his business.

Alexis Ohanian Net Worth

As of 2021, Forbes estimated Alexis Ohanian net worth as $40 million. His primary residence is an expensive mansion in Florida where he lives with his beautiful wife Serena, and their only daughter, Olympia.